VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – March 4, 2009 – It will be one of the biggest and most innovative libraries in the region. And it’s coming soon.

A joint-use library will be built by Tidewater Community College and the City of Virginia Beach. At 120,000 square feet, the library will be one-third bigger than the city’s Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library. Designed by one of the nation’s leading library architects, it will offer services for everyone – from college students to retirees to youngsters learning to read.

To gather more ideas on what should be in this innovative joint-use library, the city and TCC invite anyone interested in sharing their thoughts to attend a community forum.

WHAT: Joint-Use Library Community Forum

WHEN: Monday, March 16 – 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Advanced Technology Center Theater

TCC, 1700 College Crescent, Virginia Beach

For more information, please call the City of Virginia Beach at 385-4321 or TCC’s Information Center at 822-1122

Celebrating its 40th year, Tidewater Community College - the largest provider of higher education and Workforce Solutions services in Hampton Roads - enrolls nearly 40,000 students and has the second largest undergraduate student body in Virginia. The 23rd highest producer of associate degrees in the nation, and the 35th largest community college, TCC is among the 20 fastest-growing large two-year institutions in the United States. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in Norfolk’s theater district, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-six percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information, visit www.tcc.edu.